


Reunion with Friends

by DPaladinD



Series: Captive Behind Glass saga [4]
Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Doll!Asuna, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:02:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29563002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DPaladinD/pseuds/DPaladinD
Summary: With Asuna now fairly settled in, it was now time to reveal her return to their friends. Kirito had a task ahead of him...
Relationships: Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna
Series: Captive Behind Glass saga [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765540
Kudos: 3





	Reunion with Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, so the reason I uploaded Reconnect was because this was nearing its completion. It's been a long time coming, I'm aware.
> 
> Many thanks to aj_linguistik and Tigercry for the help with getting this finished.

Part 3: Reunion with Friends

It had taken a little time for Kazuto to arrange with his friends to meet up at his apartment. For Suguha, Keiko and Rika it had been out of the blue. They did their best to keep tabs on him to make sure he was okay (with a little help from Yui), but it had been some time since they had all been at his place together. It had been Shino who'd let them into the apartment when they arrived.

"What's this about, Shino?"

"You called so suddenly..."

"This had better be important!"

Of course, Kazuto had wanted to share with them the good news about Asuna's return and thankfully he had Shino there with him to help with the long and awkward explanation of what had happened. Having her know about this already was sure to be a blessing, as he knew he would have had a rough time convincing her otherwise.

Despite the sudden get-together, Suguha was at least glad to see her adoptive brother was feeling a little more social. He had become withdrawn after Asuna had disappeared. Maybe... he had found a promising lead? She couldn't think of another explanation for his sudden change in mood. They all knew that Kazuto had never accepted that Asuna was dead.

Kazuto hadn't yet shown himself to the group, leaving Shino to occupy them with small talk while he spoke with Asuna in his bedroom. She had been magically transformed into a small but living porcelain doll by her kidnapper. She was still wearing the frilly red and white dress her captor had put her in, as Kazuto didn't have any other clothes for a doll, though Asuna herself didn't seem to mind.

_"Come on, Sinonon already knows. Can't we just tell them right away, Kirito-sama?"_ Asuna did not make a sound, but her voice was projected directly into Kazuto's mind. It was curious that while she was enchanted with the ability to move on her own, despite being turned into a jointed porcelain doll without real muscles, she could not speak without lungs or a mouth that could move.

Kazuto shook his head to this “They’d freak out if you spoke or moved too soon, Asuna. Remember, to them, magic only exists in fantasy and games. It's not something that happens in real life. Shino narrowly missed knocking you over before… I can’t take that risk with the others.”

Asuna nodded “ _I understand, Kirito-sama”_

“Okay.” Kazuto got to his feet. “I’ll be back for you in a little bit.”

Kazuto took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves as he walked over to the door. Well, here went nothing.

Heads turned to the opening door of Kazuto's room. He waved a greeting as he entered. “Glad you could all make it today.”

“Well... You _did_ insist on all of us being here.” Suguha replied.

It was clear that of the group, Rika's patience was wearing the thinnest. “We barely ever see you these days and all of a sudden you need all of us together IRL? Something’s up.”

“There is, and it's going to take a bit of explaining… Parts are going to seem crazy, but I’ve already told Shino and she's seen the truth of what I had to say with her own eyes, so I just ask the rest of you to keep an open mind until I'm done." Kazuto replied to her.

The other three glanced between each other, a little unsure what to think of Kazuto’s statement.

“Well…. We’re all here and listening, so go ahead, big brother.” Suguha urged.

"Thanks, Sugu," Kazuto replied. "So what do all of you know about what happened to Asuna?"

"She went missing five years ago, while the two of you were at the university," Suguha supplied.

"As we’re among the closest people to her, we were all questioned by the police, but no charges were brought against any of us," Keiko continued.

"They thought it might be some crime of jealousy. Sheesh! Sure, I was jealous of Asuna, but she was also my friend. I'd never hurt her!," Rika scowled. "Anyways, the police kept up the search for some time after that, but they eventually gave up and declared Asuna legally dead."

"Of course, Kazuto refused to believe it," Shino said, speaking up.

Kazuto nodded. "Yes, I was getting to that, Sinon. I kept looking for any trace of Asuna, but any leads I did find went cold. But then, Yui finally found a lead for me."

"That's right, Papa!" Yui added cheerfully over the speakers in the room. "I found a photo of Mama at a convention! And that led Papa to her!"

"Huh? A convention? Wouldn't someone... wait, you found Asuna?"

"I was skeptical at first, but I'll show you. Just wait a minute." He ducked back into his room. There was Asuna, just as he had left her, along with the other girls who had been transformed into dolls by Asuna's kidnapper over the years. Unlike Asuna, he couldn't hear their thoughts telepathically... Asuna had suggested that perhaps one could only hear their thoughts if one had known them before their transformation. After all, she couldn't hear them either, not even through her years of captivity along with them. He silently apologized to them, as he hadn't gotten around to helping them yet, and then carefully brought out Asuna to his friends, gently setting her down on a cushion before taking a seat himself. She remained silent and motionless, as requested.

Rika, Suguha, and Keiko looked on in confusion. "A doll?"

Suguha glanced over to Kazuto, looking a little worried. "I didn't know you were into collecting this sort of thing, brother. But what does this have to do with Asuna? Are you feeling okay? I know it's been hard for you..."

Asuna was struggling to contain herself, but for now, she would respect Kirito-sama's wishes.

"Look closer," Shino instructed levelly, coming to Kazuto's aid.

The porcelain doll was of incredibly high quality and very expensive, that much was clear from a glance. Its clothes were intricately detailed, in the gothic lolita style and it had lovingly crafted accessories too. It even had more than a passing resemblance to Asuna, complete with the tiny braids she usually wore around the back of her hair.

“Well… it does look like her. I can see why it’d grab your attention…” Keiko said after a few moments of studying the doll. She was still skeptical but was trying to see where Kazuto was going with this.

“It has to be a clue though, right? You said you found Asuna and then brought this out to us. No matter how much it might resemble her, even you have to see it’s not really her, Kazuto!” Rika stated, raising her voice a bit.  
  
“Oi! Hear me out here!” Kazuto shot back. He was well aware there was going to be some opposition to the idea. “You all know I never gave up looking for Asuna. Yui’s been helping me. She found some photos of this doll posted online, at the convention I mentioned. I was skeptical at first, but she said it was a close match.”

“After a few photos, it was nearly a 99.7% match to Mama’s face, Papa,” Yui added from the speakers.

“I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence so I went to the convention later that day after Yui found the address for me. Entry wasn’t cheap, but it had been a little bit since we found a clue. When I got there and found the stall she was being displayed at… She started speaking to me.” Kazuto explained.

“And you’re sure you weren’t hallucinating?” Suguha questioned as she got to her feet to approach him and feel his forehead. From what she could tell, he wasn’t running a fever or anything.

“It’d be one thing if this was a clue to finding her, but you’re saying this doll is actually her? You’ve got to let this go…” Rika sighed.

“I don’t think my brother would pull a prank when it comes to Asuna… We’ve all wanted to know what happened to her.” Suguha reasoned.

“Still,” Rika breathed a heavy breath through her nose, “how far fetched can you get?”

“Rika-”  
  


“Look,” Rika cut Kirito off as she crossed her arms over her chest, “I’ve wanted Asuna to turn up safe and sound just as much as you. But she won’t, it’s been too long.”

“I know how all of this sounds… but if you just let me explain-”

“You’re hallucinating,” Rika snapped, “or delirious, or lost your mind! Something’s wrong with your brain if you think my best friend is a doll!”

Silence filled the room after that, no one quite sure what to say. Kazuto knew this would be hard for Asuna to witness, she was bound to be worried about her friend. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all?

Shaking her head, Rika got to her feet, “whatever, I’m done here, this is pointless.”

Keiko tried to reach over to her “Rika-”

“Not now, Keiko,” Rika stopped her friend from speaking and headed towards the door. “Not when my best friend is being thought of as some toy.”

Throughout the exchange, recognition was starting to settle in Asuna’s mind. She had managed to hold onto some small bits of her memory during her captivity, mainly of Kirito-sama, but now she was starting to remember her other friends here. As before, despite how much each of them had changed as they got older, they were still easily recognizable to her now she had names to go with their faces.

“ _Wait, Liz!”_ Asuna called out into the minds of everyone present.

Rika froze in her tracks as she heard that. “What the…? That sounded just like…” She trailed off as she tried to process this, glancing back over to the couch, specifically the cushion that the doll was placed on.

“W-was that a g-ghost?” Keiko stammered a bit out of fear.

“ _G-g-ghost?!”_ Asuna shrieked and went from her spot on the cushion to hiding behind Kazuto in no time at all, clutching onto his shirt.

The motion had been quick, but the three had seen the doll, Asuna, move. There was little room to doubt Kazuto’s claim now. It was definitely a shock to them, likely not helped by Asuna’s mental shriek.

“Asuna, I thought I asked you to not speak up till I’d had a chance to explain,” Kazuto said to her gently, trying to get her to come back out of hiding.

“It was getting a bit heated there… In her defense, I’m surprised she kept quiet for as long as she did,” Shino replied.

“ _I’m sorry, Liz was about to leave, I thought I had to do something,”_ Asuna added, looking down.

Rika slowly stepped back across the room with a fresh set of eyes on the doll. As she got closer, she kneeled to get a closer look, “A-Asuna….?”

Asuna met her gaze as she slowly poked her head out from behind Kazuto. She nodded.

“It’s okay…” Rika tried to soothe her, “we were just a bit surprised to hear you.”

Asuna seemed to calm down a little from that, releasing her grip on Kazuto’s shirt. Kazuto gently moved her back onto the cushion.

“Still… How did Asuna get like this? People don’t normally become dolls and vanish out of the blue.” Suguha asked.

“Asuna’s been gone for 5 years… How’d you manage to find her?” Rika questioned, returning her attention to Kazuto.

“I guess her captor got careless, or too full of himself when he decided to show Asuna off at the convention. Someone snapped some photos of her that Yui found online. When I went down there, Asuna managed to tell me who he was and I noticed he had a NeuroLinker. Got his contact details and managed to embed a virus into an email I sent him… Managed to see his memories through it.” Kirito explained.  
  
 _“Kirito-sama jogged my memory of what happened afterward… The guy hypnotized me somehow and the next thing I knew, I was in what must’ve been his home. I didn’t believe he had magic at first, but he did have this book. I remember he… said some strange words and that made me change and shrink into this.”_ Asuna added, gesturing to herself.

“Kirito-’sama’?”

There was a quizzical look on the faces of Suguha, Keiko, and Rika as they processed what Asuna had just said.

Kazuto just sighed at the looks the three were giving him. “I didn’t do anything. Asuna’s been calling me that since I found her. I’ve been trying to get her to stop, but… You all remember how well asking her to stop calling me ‘Kirito-kun’ at school went.”

“How come we can hear Asuna’s voice in our heads?” Keiko asked.

“We’ve been learning about all of this as we go. As far as we can tell, anyone who Asuna was close to before all of this would be able to hear her.” Shino replied.

Kazuto nodded in agreement, “Further than that, we’ve no idea. Even her captor’s memories didn’t answer a whole lot of questions. I did take the book he learned his magic from when I rescued Asuna, and I’ve been studying it in the hope of finding a way to restore her to normal.”

“ _I remember he never replied to anything I said, so I don’t think he could hear me. It was the same for the other girls…”_ Asuna added.

The three paled a bit as that sunk in.

“Others?” Suguha questioned.

“Yeah… Asuna wasn’t the only one. There were several others before and after her. We need to figure this out so we can help them too.” Kazuto answered.

"I made sure that Kazuto was able to discreetly remove the others from the kidnapper's residence. The police would never be able to help them or understand what had happened. The poor girls would have just been seized or sold off, never to see their families again. I'm putting my career on the line here since I aided and abetted a 'thief', but it's what I believe is right. Besides, that creep stole them all away first... though I'll be checking in from time to time to make sure Kazuto doesn't get any funny ideas either."

"Don't worry, Shino. I swear I'll restore them as soon as I figure out how! But it's a tricky process, and all has to be done correctly or it won't have any effect... or worse. I have to proceed cautiously, lest I accidentally harm Asuna or any of the others while trying to help them.."

_"I don't mind if it takes a while, as long as I'm with you,"_ Asuna said dreamily.

"Ugh... she's even more lovey-dovey around him now than ever," Rika grimaced.

“But something doesn’t add up,” Suguha stated, “How come Shino found out about all of this before the rest of us?”

Shino’s face went red as she recalled what had almost happened to her, how she had needed Kazuto to rescue her again, and the resulting dream she had the other night.

“Well... The guy stalked Asuna enough that he knew about some of her friends. At one point he decided he wanted her actual friends with her in his collection. I guessed he’d go after Shino first, but since the police wouldn’t recognize magic in court, I had to get him caught in the act of her attempted kidnapping.” Kazuto answered.

The shock on the three’s faces was evident as this sunk in. If Kazuto had misjudged the captor’s intent, any one of them could have joined Asuna…

“I helped too!” Yui said excitedly, “Papa used the back door he put in the bad guy’s NeuroLinker, and made me look really big! He must have felt like the one who was a doll for a change.”

“That was really reckless of you, big brother,” Suguha said.

“I had an idea what I was up against, and I wasn’t about to let Shino end up kidnapped if I could help it,” Kazuto replied.

“Does her family know?” Rika questioned.

Asuna shook her head, _“Not yet. You’ve all taken this pretty well, but I’m not sure how my family would react... I have faith Kirito-sama will find a way to turn me back, but I want to wait until I’m back to my old self before we try to reach out. Um... how did they take my disappearance?”_ She asked.

“They were worried about you, of course. They did all they could to try to find you.” Suguha began. “Your parents pleaded for any information on the news a few times while the police had their investigation going… The announcement of your legal death hit your mother hard…” she added.

“It wasn’t any secret that your mother suspected I’d had something to do with it, but your father did his best to reason with her. He knew I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.” Kazuto supplied.

“ _What else have I missed?”_ Asuna asked.

"A lot Asuna, a hell of a lot," Rika grinned and it almost felt like Asuna had never been gone, even though she definitely had.

They talked for a long time, filling in Asuna on what they had been doing for the past five years, and how the world had changed, with particular attention to the advancements in virtual reality. Asuna was impressed, to say the least, and they talked for several hours before it was finally time for her friends to return home. Kazuto returned Asuna to her makeshift bed on the desk chair in his room before retiring to bed for the night himself.


End file.
